Okay, maybe mostly about the crafting.
Knitting, spinning, scrapbooking,
my attempts to remember how to crochet
...whatever has my attention right now.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Giant WIP Post of Doom

I was originally going to call this The Giant WIP Post of Shame, but I'm not really ashamed of my projects. I will admit that there are a ton of them though.

-Since it's been so long since I've done any type of blog post I'm really (really!) out of practice with formatting and links and images and whatnot, so if something's not working let me know and I'll try to fix it. We aren't going to talk about how many edits it took me to get it this readable. (and apparently html links don't work here? or under my settings? eek!)

First WIP I'll probably finish is this set of preemie hats to go to the NICU.

I’ve been trying to mix it up with the patterns and needle sizes so they aren't all the same size. Last time I made the teeny tiny preemie ones, these go from just slightly larger than that to just under average sized. Three of them just need the ends woven in, which I’ll do as soon as I finish that last one.
I had promised another hat in pink/yellow for the grandbaby-to-be of the person who drops these off for me, and I just remembered today that the due date is in about two weeks. I guess I’ll be adding another project in really quick!

Now if I could get a prize for my longest running WIP, it would have to be my Winter Twilight Mitts
(links go to the pattern pages on ravelry. If you are a knitter or crocheter and not on Rav, why not?!)

I started these back in November 2010. I stopped working on them because I was almost out of the black, now that I’ve found some more I need to get to working on them again. Love the purple to pink color changes in the Kauni (what a great yarn!) and I'm nervous I won't get the other one to match up as well. That yarn deserves to be perfect in the project, hoping it will end up that way.

I've started a small sock monkey for Cody. He doesn't get to come over to our house very often, but when he does he tries to "practice knitting"
It's the cutest thing ever. Once he memorized the morbid rhyme he refused any help other than casting on and off. In case you haven’t heard that one it goes:

Stab it
Choke it
Rip its guts out
and throw it off the cliff

Maybe not so sweet, but very memorable!

He tried to knit a square last visit...it wasn't exactly square and a couple rows were crazy loose. But for a third attempt months after the last one with not a speck of help? Not going to fault him.

Besides that, he was happy as could be. He declared it was just what he wanted - a pirate patch

(If you’re paying close attention you can sneak a peek at my Sherlock blanket WIP in the background and the monster I knit a couple months ago. Oh! And the PVC niddy noddy my BF made me...wow I need to clean up that table!)

Even if the results aren't perfect, the amount of effort he puts into trying deserves some sort of reward. What he wants most of all is a sock monkey, not sure why but it's easy enough to make so why not?
I found a skein of cotton yarn in Monkey Brown and a pattern for a smallish monkey. I finished the main body last week, I still need to knit the arms, tail and the face.

While I'm blaming the things in my shockingly long list on the little guy, might as well throw my Beekeeper’s Quilt on there too.

Since I already had the pattern printed and put the needles and a few minis from a sampler (or two) plus my own scraps from the failed yoga socks and my first pair of socks...which I never did show off anywhere - HEY LOOK AT MY SOCKS!

Okay, moving on...since I already had all that stuff in my old knitting tool bag, when BF found out we were going to have to take Cody to his Dad's for the weekend I needed a car project ASAP and that was the only thing loaded and ready to go. There was no way I was going to spend 500+ miles riding in a car with no project. I had to start something new.
Now I've got 3 hexiflats.

(perspective is odd, but they're all the same size. honest)

I made a couple as puffs, but I like flat better for a blanket, so those are going to Sharee for doll pillows (why not? They're cute)
I'm keeping it as a car only project for now though. Unless I start kicking it up on sock knitting I'll never have enough scraps to keep me steadily knitting on it, and I have more than enough other things to keep me busy.

Did I like knitting my socks? Yes. Do I like wearing my socks? Hell Yes. Am I fast as knitting socks? No, sadly not. Here's the first sock in my second pair

My poor Blanket of Unusual Size (heavier weight version of this Princess Bride Shawl) hasn't been worked on since November, it is very neglected. It is also very hard to photograph, being larger around than the circular needle I'm using.

First Cardi I'm knitting that isn't for a child or doll. Since I don't plan on wanting to wear it until Fall, it got put in line behind the coordinating cotton summer tops/beach shirts for my nieces.

The pattern I’m using for those is Tropical Lily. Impossibly cute, quick and easy (no seaming!) The main color is a crazy bright multi, that only photographed well in this one shot:

Rochelle's is done, size 2T(hard to believe she's 2 already!)

Front and back views -

Just started knitting the size 6 (with maybe an extra repeat of the lace pattern to add length) for Sharee, I’m looking to finish it in the next couple weeks. The first one was a really quick knit, so I think that’s do-able.

(what evil is in that yarn that makes it so difficult to capture properly?!)

There is also this beaded bracelet I’m making up. I mainly started it because I was bored one day and wanted to try and knit with beads. Wandered off, and haven't picked it up again. Need to decide to either finish or frog it.

Going through my WIP basket I found a towel I made to match a dishcloth set. I had totally forgotten about even starting it, easy to do when I don't make a Ravelry project page for something. It was going to go to my parents, the colors match the Americana theme they have. For this Christmas with some other sort of kitchen gift maybe?

(another not so great picture -the yarn is a twist of faded red, blue and cream/yellow)

I have a couple more epic sized WIPs that I haven’t included, but I think they deserve posts of their own (for picture quantity alone) - a Sherlock themed blanket for the 221b KAL on Ravelry and the playmat (planning on 2) I'm making from a book called Knit a Fantasy Story.

To keep from accidentally having extra time this summer, I've also signed up for Tour De Fleece (beginner - so very beginner- spinning with the RavTav group) and Ravelympics (knitting with the Sherlock group)